For all of you back home that hate having to remember which day and what time the streetsweeper comes so you do not get a ticket, we thought you would like to see our streetsweepers here in Mongolia....

Of course we do not have to worry about moving our car because they just sweep around it.  They do not really sweep private streets though.  These here are on Peace Avenue which is one of the main streets in Ulaanbaatar! 

This week has been some crazy weather.  Most of the week was beautiful.  It was warm enough that we went to the office in our shirt sleeves without the need for even a light jacket or sweater!!  So Elder Shrope transplanted the rest of our little garden into large pots and put them out on our balcony.  He had taped up some plastic to help guard them against the wind that bent them over last year.  But then on Thursday the temperatures dropped a little and so he brought them into the livingroom.  And we have had snow for the last three days!!  It doesn't stay for long, but it is cold outside, today I had to wear my heavy coat.  And the winds are over 20 km an hour!!  So this is a scene from our livingroom...

This has been a week of good and not so good.  Bolorsaikhan and Tsolmon were refused their visas at the US Embassy.  They had wanted to go and be sealed in the Washington DC Temple.  That was a real bummer!  Then Enkhmuren, a 17 year old young lady at Nalaikh, called us from the hospital Wednesday night.  The doctor said her heart was very bad and needed repairs.  Then on Thursday he said her heart beat was good and she could go home.  We saw her on Saturday and she cannot even stand without labored breathing.  So we have fasted and prayed for her.
On a better note, we have a new English student on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.  Her name is Oko and she is Altan's daughter-in-law.  She graduates with her masters in financial analysis this month but needs to speak better English.  We will help her all we can.

On Monday we had a little fire for FHE outside the chapel in Nalaikh with the youth.  We roasted marmellows.  Some had never roasted them on an open campfire before.

A few had never even eaten a marshmellow at all before!

This is Enkhmuren putting more wood on the fire.  She was having no heart problems then.

Even the Sister missionaries were enjoying the fire.  Then the youth played games as they do at the end of most FHEs.

On Saturday they had a joint youth activity in Nalaikh.  They had about 30 youth from other branches in the district join the 15-18 youth from Nalaikh.  It was a good turnout.

Elder Davaadorj planned and conducted the activity.  He mixed all the youth up into groups so that there were youth from every branch in each group.  We had to leave early and they were late getting started but they were all having fun.  We had cooked all the hamburger patties and cleaned the kitchen for them.

This is our new love.  We had plain aloe vera drink before and it is good, but then we discovered it in flavors!  We have tried the grape and strawberry and they are good, but our favorites are the mango and pomegranate.  So now we drink these with our meals at home and only have soda when we go to a restaurant.

This was an interesting week.  On Monday we awoke to snowcovered ground but it was all gone by evening.  Then on Thursday morning we walked to the office at 7:30 am in nice weather.  At 9:00 am it was like this.....

Some of the snowflakes were as large as the palm of my hand!!  But the ground was too warm for them to stick and again it was all gone by the time we walked home at 4:00 pm.

Thursday we taught the first six temple preparation classes to these two Elders.  We has two translators because both Elders are hearing impaired.  So one translated what we said into Mongolian, and then the other signed it for the Elders.  It was a very special class.  Since we taught all six at once, we had them in class fromm 9:00 am until 4:00 pm.  We fed them lunch and gave them little breaks.  It was a long day for all but they had to be on the plane that evening for Manila.

On Friday we had the baptism of these two young ladies.  They were taught by the Sister missionaries in Nalaikh. They bore their testimonies afterwards and they have strong testimonies and will be a great addition to the branch.

Then on Saturday we went to do some looking in shops in town. As we were walking along, I felt a tug on my purse and swatted my hand back in time to slap the hand of a pick-pocket.  He had already turned the little latch in the center of my purse, but the straps on the sides are held in place by magnets.  It was when he tried to pull one of the straps up that I felt it.  I yelled for him not to touch my purse which got Elder Shrope's attention, and he told him to get away.  At first he just stared at us but the turned and walked away.  I held my purse tightly the rest of the day.  He did not get into my purse and so I am happy!! 

This has been a fun week.  It started with cooking at FHE on Monday.  They wanted to learn to make crazy cake and blond brownies.

 Everyone got  to measure and add one of the ingredients in the crazy cake.

 Then Sainbayar mixed it all together.

 Everyone was having a good time.

 Then while the cake was in the oven, they began to measure and add the ingredients for the brownies.

 Sainbayar was mixing the brownies so fast, his hands are just a blur!!

 While things were baking, they had a chess game going in one room and ping pong in another.

 Sainbayar showing the cake after it was frosted.  Luckily you frost this cake while it is warm.  If fact, it took so long to bake everything that they also ate it all while it was still warm.  They did not leave even a crumb!!  They are good cooks!

 Then on Wednesday it was my birthday.  During staff meeting I was sung to and Sister Clark brought chocolate chip cookies.  Sorry no pics of them because they were still warm from the oven and were gone fast.  After the meeting we stayed in the room and the girls that work in the building brought up some cakes and drinks.  This is my Mongolian birthday cake.

 Oktober, Batkhand, Tsatsral, Iggy, and Miigaa cut and served the cake and drinks.

 We had all the people from the staff meeting including the assistants, plus the the girls that are our translators listed above, and Batsengel from the BYUH computer lab which is down in the basement near our office.

 And this it Batsetseg who is the financial person in the mission office.  She has a degree as a nuclear physicist and would love to go to the states to study for a masters.  She is a sweetheart and we just love her and her family.

 Then on Friday we had a baptism in Nalaikh.  The water was so cold that Elder Shrope helped the Sisters and Elders boil water and add it to the water in the font.  They were having a little fun whilr waiting for the water to boil.

 This was the young lady that was baptized.  And she was very excited even though the water was cold.  She bore a beautiful testimony.

 At the end of the meeting, everyone had some cookies and punch and just enjoyed each others company.  The youth here are very supportive of one another and always very loving toward the new members.

 On Saturday we attended Nathan and Batkhand's wedding reception.  Nathan served his mission here and is from San Diego.  He will be here a year working while they try and get Batkhand's visa.  They were married in Feb. and went to the Hong Kong temple last month.  It was a simple but beautiful reception.

 Batkhand's dad did a little Mongolian tradition for them.  He came 22 hours by bus or meeker( a small van used to transport lots of people) to be here for the reception.  Batkhand's mom passed away last June.

 They did the American traditional cutting of the cake and feeding it to each other. 

This is the couples that were there with Nathan and Batkhand, the Clarks, the Hunts, the Richardsons, and us.  It was a lovely evening and a perfect way to end the week!  Congratulations Nathan and Batkhand, we wish you all the best.

Good news this week.  Bolosaikhan and Tsolmon were married on Friday.  They are trying to get everything in order so that they can go to the Washington DC temple.  We are very happy for them and hope they get their visas!!
Also this week Taylor, a young man here who served his mission in the Carlsbad CA Mission, and his wife just left on Wed. headed for BYU Hawaii.  They have been waiting for many, many months for housing to open up and were so excited to finally be on their way.  We wish them the best of luck in school.
Then on a sad note, Monday we found out that Bolormaa's 24 year old brother was killed in an automobile accident along with two others on Sat.  She is President Odgerel's secretary and works with us on PEF loans.  Our sympathy and love goes out to her and her family.
On Thursday morning, Elder Shrope drove the Gledhills and the Martins to the airport at 4:00 am.  They are going to the Hong Kong temple with a group of about thirty Mongolian members.  We will pick them up at the airport next Sunday when they return.
This was carpet cleaning week in the building so the building was pretty quiet especially from Wednesday afternoon on.  So Friday we spent the morning shopping and then the rest of the day doing things in the apartment.  On Saturday we and the Richardsons walked to the nursery and then to three gift shops.  We stopped for lunch at the Bangkok Cafe.  It was our first Thai food and it was great.  This was a very nice little restaurant and we want to go there again.  By the time we returned to the apartment we had walked 5-6 miles.  That was my exercise for the day!  But it was a lovely day even though we only bought flowerpots to plant our vegetables in!

This has been a busy week.  Wednesday six missionaries arrived from the States. 

 On Thursday we couples fed them lunch and then took them on a walk to Sukhbaatar Square so they could see a little of the city.  We had one Mongolian with who is waiting for his mission call.

 On Friday we taught the 7th temple class to the four missionaries that returned from the Manila MTC on Thursday night.  This is them with their trainers.  The Sister in the white blouse will be serving in Nalaikh where we go.

 Also on Friday we held the Reverse MTC for the missionaries going home.  We had 17 attend.  We did not have those who had returned earlier in the week from Japan, or the American Elder going home.  But it was a good group.

 In fact they were so much fun, we just had to take a funny picture. 
On Saturday we watched conference since it is shown a week later here.  That night we had our missionary fireside where 34 missionaries bore their testimonies--10 new ones beginning there missions and 24 finishing their missions and returning home.  It was a wonderful fireside and many great testimonies!

 Today we finished watching conference.  It was inspiring as always.  Between the two sessions we had a potluck lunch for all the English speaking missionaries.  It was our Easter meal so I made American potato salad and deviled eggs.  The missionaries really enjoy American food once in awhile!  After conference the district choir performed an Easter program.  This is the choir, pianist, and readers of the program.  It was beautiful and really helped it to feel like Easter here since Mongolians do not celebrate Easter.

This is three of the choir members that are from Nalaikh.  Enkhmuren, with the lighter brown hair, is one of our Mongolian daughters here.  They are all so loving and help fill the void of not being with our own children while we are here.